Monthly Archives: September 2013

When creating and living off of a written budget, tithing to the church should be the first item on the list.

Why?

When I was younger I did it because that is what my parents and the church taught me was the right thing to do.

As I have gotten older I have learned more and more, on my own, why it is so essential.

Giving away a portion of your income is a testament of your faith and belief in God and his church. It is a sacrifice.

Since the creation of man God has asked us to sacrifice by giving of the first of our fruits. Adam and Eve taught Cain and Able how to sacrifice. This story also taught us the importance of giving of the best that we have and with the right attitude or there could be consequences.

All God asks is that you give 10% back of what he already gave you in the first place. It takes money to run the church and the purpose of the church is to reach out to the community and help those in need. To save those that are lost.

God will take care of you when you give.

God has never failed to provide for me or my family and that is because we are first faithful to Him.

He provides in many more ways than simply a good, steady income.

He has kept our family healthy. He has kept our vehicles running well. He has taken care of our home and so much more.

Any of these things could instantly cause you to have to pay out a tremendous amount of money if something goes wrong, especially when it comes to your health.

If you do not pay your tithes, God may choose to get that portion from you one way or another, so it is better to give it up front, willingly and happily and be blessed, instead of the other way around.

If you are faithful to God and his church, then he will be faithful to you and take care of you.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.

Sounds to me like a win-win situation. Bless others and you will be blessed even more.

You can’t out give God. Go ahead and test him. Give him the first of what you receive in tithing to the church and see what happens.

For those ready to take control of their lives and their money, creating a budget is the first step.

Be intentional about getting started. Don’t just let each day go by and see if time just happens to tap you on the shoulder and suggest that you sit down and do this. Schedule a day and time that you can sit down for an hour, then follow these steps.

Step 1: Grab a pencil, some paper, a calculator and sit down at the table.

Use a pencil because you likely will need to so some erasing.

Lined paper would be helpful, but not necessary

Don’t sit on the couch in front of the TV. Sit at the dinner table where you can focus.

Step 2: At the top, write down how much you make in a month.

This part can be tricky if your income is variable. There are multiple ways to budget with variable income. For now pick an average of what you expect to make each month.

Step 3: Start making a list different places that your money goes each month.

Don’t worry about the amount spent on each item yet. Just list everything that you can think of that your money goes to.

Start with the items that are essential to life first.

Examples of essential items

Tithing

Savings

Mortgage or Rent

Power or Electric

Food or Grocery (not dining)

Gas

Water

Gas

Phone/Internet/Cable

Auto insurance

Home insurance

Life insurance

Examples of non-essential items

School misc

Kids activities

Birthdays

Recreation

Dining

Kids allowance or commission

Clothes

Home maintenance

Music lesson

Dental

Eyecare

Medical

Retirement

Vacation

Christmas

etc…

The the non-essentials will look different for everyone, but it is is important to get everything that you can think of listed.

Step 4: Write a dollar amount beside each and every item

Some you will know and some you might have to estimate.

Step 5: Pick up the calculator and punch in the income number at the top of the page, then start subtracting each item from that number.

Most of us will run out of money before we get to the bottom of the list.

Step 6: Balance your budget by adjusting the numbers or items until all of the money is accounted for and your final number is 0.

In future posts I hope to go into more detail about why I listed things like vacations, birthdays and Christmas in the monthly item list.

I would also like to explain further why I think that tithing and saving are essential to life budget items.

For now…Have fun creating your budget. It will feel good to take control of your money.

If you are reading this article then you most likely have an iPhone and are anticipating the new operating system and excited to try it out just like I am.

This week I have done a couple of things that will hopefully make the update go smoother and would like to share these with you.

1. Make sure your photos are backed up and then delete all those that you don’t need.

2. Delete all the apps that you have not used in the the past month or more.

3. Back up your phone either through iTunes or the Cloud.

4. Be patient.

Wait to do the update tonight when you are at home, have a strong WiFi signal, have plenty of time and won’t be needing your phone for a while.
Major updates could take a couple of hours and you don’t want to be trying to do this when you are out and about and in need of your phone.

If I am missing something or you would like to add, please leave a comment.
Thanks and happy updating!

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The story of the grasshopper and the ant is an oldie, but goodie!
There is so much that can be learned from it.

If you are not familiar with it, check it out on YouTube.

While the ants are busy working all summer long, storing up for the winter, the grasshopper is just hopping around having fun in the moment. He does not have a care in the world for what may lie ahead.
Then winter comes and while the ants are inside with plenty of food, the grasshopper is left out in the cold, freezing and starving.

Some basic lessons to be learned from the story…

Don’t procrastinate.

Don’t just live in the moment and totally ignore the future.

Some thinking ahead and planning ahead is essential for survival.

There are multiple areas in life that we can apply this story to.
Ask yourself these questions and then think about whether you are the grasshopper or the ant in each situation.

Physically

Are you exercising each day?

Are you eating for the moment or for the future?

Family

Do you have a Will?

Are you spending time with your spouse and kids?

How much longer until the kids go to college? Will you be ready?

Mentally

Are you learning something new each day?

Are you reading non-fiction books?

Financially

Do you have an emergency fund?

Are you saving for retirement?

Career

Will the job that you have now last forever?

Do you need to be furthering your education just in case?

Spiritually

Are you spending time with God in prayer?

Reading the Bible?

Going to church every week?

Have you completed the steps of salvation?

Are you the grasshopper or the ant?

Maybe you don’t have to choose one or the other.
Maybe you can be a hybrid?